Arrangement for cooling combustion chambers and compressors of a stationary power plant with water or steam from a boiler



P" 2, 1957 M. BOUFFART 2,787,121

ARRANGEMENT FOR COOLING COMBUSTION CHAMBERS AND COMPRESSORS OF A STATIONARY POWER PLANT WITH WATER 0R STEAM FROM A BOILER Original Filed Jan. 28, 1946 c/mmaae G (1/ (onfl/etrfae /a@ fin.

INVENTOR. final/R rel BOUFFART BY 7 Q 93%1a 2,787,121 ARRANGEMENT FOR COOLING COMBUSTION CHAMBERS AND COMPRESSORS OF A STA- TIONARY POWER PLANT WITH WATER OR STEAM FRQM A BOILER Maurice Boutlart, Brussels, Belgium Original application January 28, 1946, Serial No. 643,926,

now Patent No. 2,641,904, dated June 16, 1953. Dividerl and this application March 30, 1953, Serial No. 345,636

Claims priority, application Great Britain December 14, 1945 I 4 Claims. (Cl. 6039.07)

which resulted in U. S. Patent No. 2,641,404, granted June 16, 1953, and of which the present application is a division.

It is well known that in the case of combustion engines the specific power, that is, the power per unit of weight,

is limited by the difliculties of cooling.

An object of the invention is to provide a cooling apited States PatentO paratus for stationary power plant combustion chambers in which the cooling is effected by a high-speed circulation in a cooler in which the element to be cooled is located, the cooling fluid being a liquid led from a boiler to said cooler and returned to said boiler.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cooling apparatus in which water from the hot water drum of a boiler operating at a pressure below 90 atmospheres is led to the cooler, and the steam produced in said cooler is returned to the steam collector of the boiler. If the boiler operates at a pressure above 90 atmospheres, the cooler is fed through a pipe from the cold water collector of the boiler, and the hot water or steam produced in the cooler is returned to the steam and hot water space of the boiler.

When a cooling apparatus according to this invention is applied to compressors for an oxidizing agent or a gaseous fuel, the cooling fluid caused to move in the cooler also is taken from a boiler and returned thereto.

Further and other objects of the present invention will appear hereinafter. In the accompanying drawing, the single figure is a diagrammatic illustration of a stationary power plant according to the invention in the form of a gas turbine.

As shown in the drawings, a combustion chamber C is provided which is supplied with fuel by a compressor Ga through a conduit 3a. A discharge pipe T is provided for conducting the exhaust gases to a turbine (not shown).

Combustion chamber C is also fed with an oxidizing medium supplied by compressor 0a through a conduit 4a.

The combustion chamber C is located in a jacket or cooling chamber R provided with a circulating pump A which is adapted to be driven to cause a cooling medium in the jacket R to circulate through the same in one di rection or the other, the direction being immaterial.

A boiler L is provided for supplying a cooling medium. This boiler is adapted to be heated by a furnace P. The boiler is also provided with tubes M which are connected to a water preheater N. A conduit l'a is connected to 2,787,121 Patented Apr. 2, 1957 'ice 2 boiler L for conducting therefrom the medium contained therein. The conduit l'a is connected to a valve II for controlling the flow of liquid from conduit l'a into con- :duit 1a and through the same to the jacket or cooling chamber R. i

A conduit 1"a also extends between valve II and the discharge from the water preheater N. The slide body of valve 11 is provided with ports whereby conduit 1a may be connected with either conduit 1a from the boiler L or with conduit 1"a from the preheater N.

The slide valve II has been shown in a form that is displaceable manually or in any other manner between the two fixed parts 7a for establishing communication between la and 1a or between 1"a and 1a.

A conduit 2a is provided for the discharge of the cooling medium from the jacket or cooler R back to the boiler L.

In accordance with the present invention, compressor 0a is provided with a cooling jacket 8 and the fuel compressor Ga is provided with a jacket or cooling chamber 9. Jackets 8 and 9 have their inlets connected together and their outlets connected together. The inlets are supplied by a conduit 5a with cooling medium from the preheater N. The discharge outlets of the jackets or coolers 8 and 9 are connected together and are connected by a conduit 6a to the intake of the preheater N.

The word combustion is used herein in the general sense, and is applicable to a more or less rapid combustion as well as to an instantaneous explosion.

In operation, the oxidizing agent is led by the pipe 4a and the fuel by the pipe 3a to the inlet of the combustion chamber C of the mixture, which combustion chamber is placed in an enclosed space formed by a jacket or cooling chamber forming part of the high-speed cooling circuit. i

The cooling fluid delivered by the boiler L is led through a pipe la and 1a to said jacket R which contains a pump A which is driven to cause said cooling fluid to circulate at high speed for rapidly cooling the combustion chamber. After having circulated in the jacket, the cooling fluid is led back to the boiler L through pipe 2a.

The mass of cooling fluid delivered from the jacket to the boiler is continuously renewed by the mass of fluid entering said jacket through pipe 1a. In said 'jacketthe rate of flow of the cooling fluid is much higher than the rate of flow of said fluid entering and leaving said jacket due to the rate of How imparted to the fluid by the pump.

As shown in the drawing, the fuel, which for example will be gas from a gas producer, from a blast furnace, or from a coke oven, supplied by a compressor Ga is led through the pipe 3a to the feed pipe of the combustion chamber C.

In the same way, the oxidizing agent, which for example may be atmospheric air supplied by compressor 0a, is led through the pipe 4a to the pipe feeding the said combustion chamber C.

The pipes for inlet and outlet of the cooling fluid to the combustion chamber jacket or cooler R communicate with the pipes 101 and 2a respectively, the first one leading the fluid obtained from an independent boiler L,

the second one serving to return this fluid to the boiler liquid and then for vaporizing the saturated liquid, respectively, the liquid led to the cooler wi'll, according to the invention, be either vaporized in the latter or merely heated by it. i

. In this order, the position of the slide valve II corre sponds to a boiler L functioning at a pressure of the order of most present-day boilers, substantially below 90 atmospheres. In this case, the heat absorbed for changing saturated liquid into steam is considerable, and therefore the fluid taken from the boiler is saturated hot water led by the pipe la. The said water is wholly or partly vapor ized in the cooler R of the combustion chamber, and the dry or wet steam is led by the return pipe 2a into the steam drum of the boiler L.

When, on the other hand, the boiler L is a boiler functiouing at a pressure higher than 90 atmospheres, the vaporization of the saturated water absorbs less heat than the heating of the liquid absorbs. In this case, the slide valve II, by a slight displacement towards the right, puts the feed pipe 1a into communication with the pipe 1"a, enabling cold Water to be taken from the boiler. The said water is led through the pipe 1a to the cooler R, is heated in said cooler, and is brought back into the steam and water drum or header of the boiler by the pipe 2a.

The cooling of the compressors a and Ga is effected by means of fluid withdrawn from suitable points of the boiler by pipes such as 5a, and after heating, is returned by pipes such as 6a.

These diversions of boiler water serve to cool the hottest parts of the compressors by means of coolers functioning in the same way as hereinbefore described with respect to the combustion chamber, that is, each of the compressors 0a and Ga has a cooler 8 and 9, respectively, in which the oxidizing agent and the fuel are respectively cooled before passing through conduits 4a and 3a into the combustion chamber C.

Each of the two compressors, shown diagrammatically as 0a and Ga in the drawing, comprises one or more compressors functioning in one or more stages of pressure.

According to the invention, the said coolers therefore recover the water and heat.

What I claim is:

, 1. A stationary power plant comprising a combustion chamber, a cooling jacket surrounding said combustion chamber and having an inlet and an outlet for a cooling medium, a source of cooling fluid, said source of cooling fluid being a water vaporizing boiler having independent heating means, a pipe leading from said boiler to said cooler, a pipe leading from said cooler to said boiler, a source of fuel having a compressor for said fuel, a source of oxidizing agent having a compressor for said agent, a pipe leading from said fuel compressor to said combustion chamber, a pipe leading from said oxidizing agent compressor to said combustion chamber, and a pump in said cooling jacket for circulating the cooling fluid at a rate of flow much higher than that of the fluid entering and leaving said cooling jacket.

2. A stationary power plant comprising a combustion chamber, a cooling jacket surrounding said combustion chamber and having an inlet and an outlet for a cooling medium, a source of cooling fluid, said source of cooling fiuid being a water vaporizing boiler having independent heating means, said boiler vaporizing water at a'pressure lower than 90 atmospheres, a hot water collector for said boiler, a pipe leading fromsaid hot water collector of said boiler to said cooler, a return pipe leading from said cooler to said boiler the steam produced in said cooler, a source of fuel having a compressor for said fuel, a source of oxidizing agent having a compressor for said ,agent, a pipe leading from said fuel compressor to said combustion chamber, a pipe leading from said oxidizing agent compressor to said combustion chamber, and a pump in said cooler for circulating the cooling water turning into steam at a rate of flow much higher than the rate of flow of the water entering said cooler and leaving said cooler in the form of steam led by said return pipe into said steam collector of said boiler.

3. A stationary power plant comprising combustion chamber, a cooling jacket surrounding said combustion chamber and having an inlet and an outlet for a cooling medium, a source of cooling fluid, said source of cooling fluid being a water vaporizing boiler having independent heating means, said boiler vaporizing water at a pressure higher than atmospheres, a cold water drum for said boiler, a pipe leading from said cold water drum to said cooler, a return pipe leading the hot water from said cooler to said boiler, a source of fuel having a compressor for said fuel, a source of oxidizing agent having a compressor for said agent, a pipe leading from said fuel compressor to said combustion chamber, a pipe leading from said oxidizing agent compressor to said combustion chamber, and a pump in said cooler for circulating the water in said cooler at a rate of flow much higher than the rate of fiow of the water entering and leaving said cooler for returning to the steam and water space of said boiler.

4. A stationary power plant comprising a combustion chamber, a cooling jacket surrounding said combustion chamber and having an inlet and an outlet for a cooling medium, a source of cooling fluid, said source of cooling fluid being a water vaporizing boiler having independent heating means, a pipe leading from said boiler to said cooler, a pipe leading from said cooler to said boiler a source of fuel having a compressor for said fuel, a jacket surrounding the hottest parts of said fuel compressor, a pipe leading from said boiler to said jacket, a pipe lead ing from said jacket surrounding said parts of said fuel compressor to said boiler, a source of oxidizing agent ha ing a compressor for said agent, a jacket surrounding the hottest part of said oxidizing agent compressor, a pipe leading from said boiler to said jacket surrounding said oxidizing agent compressor, a pipe leading from said. jacket for said oxidizing agent compressor to said boiler, a pipe leading from said fuel compressor to said contbustion chamber, a pipe leading from said oxidizing agent compressor to said combustion chamber, a pump in said jackets surrounding said fuel and oxidizing agent compressors for circulating the water at a rate of flow much higher than that of the water entering and leaving said jacket and a pump in said cooling jacket surrounding said combustion chamber for circulating the cooling fluid at a rate of flow much higher than that of the fluid entering and leaving said cooling jacket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,448,899 Cole Mar. 20, 1923 2,568,787 Bosch Sept. 25, 1951 2,569,446 Bonvillian et a1 Oct. 2, 1951 2,621,476 Sdille Dec. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 276,911 Italy Aug. 22, 1930 

